The Palgrave Handbook on Rethinking Colonial Commemorations

Foreword
Warning
Terminology
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Images
Chapter 1: Introduction
“Carry a Song/Disrupt an Anthem”
Brave Disruptions
An Overview of Part I: Recognition and Remembering
An Overview of Part II: Resistance and Reimagining
An Overview of Part III: Removal and Rectification
References
Part I: Recognition and Remembering
Chapter 2: Memorials to Settler-Colonialism in Australia: Racism, Colonialism and White Power
Introduction
The Global Colour Line
A Brief Note on Race and Racism
Whiteness and White Privilege as Hegemonic
Colonialism and Commemoration
Homage to Empire and Western Civilisation
Homage to Empire and Western Civilisation
The Benign Empire: The ‘Discovery’ of Australia
Neoliberal Right-Wing Thinktanks: Sites for the Reproduction of Colonial Racist Discourses as an Important Front in the Reactionary Fight Back
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Koro and the Statue: Disrupting Colonial Amnesia and White Settler Sovereignty in Aotearoa New Zealand
The Story of Koro and the Statue
The Spectacle of Protest
The Sovereignty Wars
Pukehinahina: Gate Pā
Enduring Symbols of White Supremacy
Hamilton’s Removal: Narratives of White Possession
Bicultural Limitations: Prescribing the Limits of Māori Protest
Conclusion: Ko Te Kai a Te Rangatira, he Kōrero—Conversation is the Sustenance of Chiefs
Glossary of Māori Terms
References
Chapter 4: Space and Place: Cultural Heritage and Colonial Commemoration at Australian Tertiary Institutions
Introduction
Heritage and Identity at Australian Tertiary Institutions
Commemorative Names
Australia’s Most Radical University
A University in the North
Commemorations as Colonial Imaginings
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: Toppling the Racist Anglo-Saxon Politics of Cecil Rhodes
Introduction
The Cultural Production of the Anglo-Saxon Race through the Rhodes Scholarship
The Unbearable Whiteness of Cecil Rhodes
Memorialising Rhodes
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: The Dark Side of Canadian History: A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach
A Global Reckoning
Understanding a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach
The Relevance of Canadian Colonial Commemorations in the Twenty-First Century
How Cultural Genocide Unfolded in Canada
John A. MacDonald from a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach
Conclusion: The Legacy of Sir John A MacDonald and the Indian Residential Schools
References
Chapter 7: “This Is Not a Day for You”: Indigenous Australians and the ‘Disruption’ of Anzac Day
Introduction
Situating Anzac Day as a Colonial Commemoration
‘The Rules Are the Rules’: Bla(c)k Bodies as ‘Disruptive’
‘Irrespective of Race, Culture or Religion’: Indigenous Cultures as ‘Disruption’
‘A Misuse of Anzac Day’: Indigenous Warfare as Disruption
Towards a Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Reflections on Representation, Remembrance and the Memorial
Introduction
Conversation
References
Chapter 9: Lest We Forget: The Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner Saga
Introduction
What’s in a Name?
Move'em Out!
The Myall Creek Massacre
All Out Warfare
End Game
Judge Willis
Legal Manoeuvrings
Carnival Time
The Campaign
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: Unwanted Endeavours and the Reconstruction of Cook’s World
Introduction
Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land
Redfern and Waterloo: The Bla(c)k Heart of Sydney
Unwanted Endeavours
Constructing a ‘Pleasing’ Home in Captain Cook’s World
Tūranganui-a-Kiwa: The Long-Standing Place of Liwa in Waterloo on Gadigal Country
Replacing Cook’s World
Glossary of Māori Words and Terms
References
Chapter 11: How Churches Are Framed and Presented in the Contemporary Sámi Homeland of Finland to Maintain Colonial Discourses
Introduction
The Indigenous Sámi People in Contemporary Finland
Framing
Indigenous Methodologies
The Ohcejohka/Utsjoki Church
The Bielbajávri/Pielpajärvi Wilderness Church
Analysis
Conclusions
References
Chapter 12: Colonial Histories and Artefacts: Which Way Gender?
Introduction
Museums and Gendering
The Gendered Stories we Tell
Kinships: The Burden of Proof and the Colonial Project of Gender
Returning our Bodies; Listening
Who Curates?
Which Way Gender?
Conclusions
References
Chapter 13: Monumental Copper and Coal: The Case for Including Extractivism in the Rethinking of Colonial Commemorations
Introduction
Copper in the Colonial Archive
A Material Critique of Bronze Statuary
Monuments to Coal and Coal Mining
Towards a Critique of Extractivist Monuments
Conclusion
References
Part II: Resistance and Reimagining
Chapter 14: Holding Dissonance, While Disrupting Narratives
Introduction
Background
Personal Beliefs
Silence and Pragmatism: Women’s Suffrage and Rights
Violence: Colonial Dispossession and Racism
The Legacy of Queensland-Based Legislation
The Legacy of Federal Legislation
Reckoning with Legacy and Disrupting Social Narratives
Conclusion
References
Chapter 15: Reason and Reckoning: Provocations and Conversations About Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University
Introduction
Narrative #1: Dr Fiona Foley, Recasting Colonial Legacies
Silence Is Complicity
Narrative #2: Debbie Bargallie, Breaking the Racial Contract: Facing Uncomfortable Truths
Narrative # 3: Bronwyn Carlson, ‘You Can’t Handle the Truth’: Settler Refusal to Engage with Facts
Narrative #4: Fiona Nicoll, The Art of Reckoning: Re-imagining Samuel Griffith’s University
Signposting or the Matter of Symbolism
Re-evaluating Griffith’s Legacies
Making Ambiguous Law
Making Racial Law
Can We Handle the Truth?
The Role of the Arts in the Space and Time of Truth Telling
Turning off Settlers’ Drive: After Griffith’s University
References
Chapter 16: Comedic Interventions: Toppling Monuments and Dismantling Myths in Rutherford Falls
References
Chapter 17: Confederates and Colonial Commemoration in the United States: Collective Memory and Counter-histories
Introduction
Theoretical and Methodological Concerns
I. The Architecture of Monuments, Memorialisation and Forgetting
How Does the Architecture of Monuments and the Story of Memorialisation Colonise Landscapes of Memory (Authentic or ‘the Real’)?
II. Social and Political Narratives of Erasure
Which Social or Political Narratives Depend Upon Erasure of Individual Counter-narratives That Might Better Describe Colonialism and Racial Regimes?
III. Trauma vs. Catharsis
What Is the Purpose of Enshrining Continual Trauma, Seeking Catharsis or Attempting to Re-direct Historical Memorialising?
IV. Counter-narratives and Collective Stories
How Can Counter-narratives Reconstruct Collective Stories That Enable New Social Engagements Through Monuments, Artefacts and Oral Histories? Can We Externalise Memory to ‘Prompt the Body’ to Remember in Ways That Are More Productive?
V. From Catharsis to Critical Debate
How Are Monuments or Memorials, in General, Dedicated More to Nostalgia and Catharsis than to Critical Debate?
Commemorative Moments and Case Studies
Bringing Down Confederate Statues in New Orleans
Conclusion
References
Chapter 18: The Art of Daniel Boyd: Decolonising Banks and Cook, Challenging Colonial Commemoration
Introduction
The Stealing of Cultural Artefacts and Knowledge
Sir No Beard
‘We Call Them Pirates Out Here’
‘Floating Forest’
Conclusion
References
Chapter 19: Asserting Indigenous Agencies: Constructions and Deconstructions of James Cook in Northern Queensland
Introduction
Contested Place
Place as Socially Organised
Cook’s Town?
The ‘Giant’ of Sheridan Street
Toppling the ‘Giant’
Monuments and Contested Place
Recollecting, Recreating and Redefining Reconciliation
Conclusion
References
Chapter 20: Futuring Ruins: The Grassroots Design Activism of the Department of Homo Affairs
Introduction
Grassroots Design Activism: Inviting Us in Using Humour and Pleasure
Department of Homo Affairs (DOHA)
Resist Racist Replicas and Turn Back the Float
Colonial Virus: Do You Have It? (Image 20.6)
Stopping the Spread of the Colonial Virus
Pleasure Activism Countering Rigid Radicalism and Paralysis
Conclusion: Design Activism as a Politics of Prefiguration and Everyday Practice
References
Glossary of Terms
Chapter 21: ‘It’s Just Always Been There’: Rutherford Falls, Monuments and Settler Colonial Hegemony
Introduction
Background
Hegemonic Settler Colonial Narratives
Recognising Settler Privilege
Indigenous Voices and Decolonisation
Deterritorialised Digital Media
Conclusion
References
Part III: Removal and Rectification
Chapter 22: The Need for Context: Archaeology’s Contribution to the ‘Statue Wars’
Introduction
Why Monuments Matter
The Debate and the Need to Preserve Context
The Statue Parks
Memento Park, Hungary
Grutas Park, Lithuania
Park of Arts, Russia
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Chapter 23: Dis-Placing White Supremacy: Intersections of Black and Indigenous Struggles in the Removal of the Roosevelt Statue at the American Museum of Natural History
Introduction
The Spatial Politics of Monumentality and the Remaking of Commemorative Landscapes
Solidarity and Making Worlds Together
The Roosevelt Equestrian Statue as a Focal Point for Black and Indigenous Counter-Monumental Struggle
Conclusion
References
Chapter 24: Edifying: The Deathscapes Project and the Landscape of Settler-Colonial Monumentality in Australia
Introduction
Bloody Foundations, Lethal Presents
Monumentalising Colonial Violence
Edifying in the Shadow of the Law
‘1788 Shame’: Historical Accounting and the Death in Custody of Ms. Dhu
Dreams of Freedom: Inquest for Mr. Fazel Chegeni Nejad
‘Incompatible with survival’: The Death in Custody of Mr. David Dungay
Edifying Topographies
The Monumental Carceral Fortresses of the Settler State: Long Bay Gaol
The Round House—Rottnest Carceral Monument Complex
Coda: Edifying in Fremantle
References
Chapter 25: The Problem and Potential of Anti-Black Monuments in Museums
Introduction
Black Communities and Anti-Black Monuments: An Historical Overview
From Monumental Space to Museum Object
Towards an Ethic of Care
References
Chapter 26: Local Empire: George Frampton’s Leeds Queen Victoria Memorial
Introduction
Part I
Making a Local Imperial Icon
Geographic Local: The Monument and Leeds
Spatial Local: The Monument in Leeds
Part II
Temporal Local: Revisionist Approaches in the Twenty-First Century
Artist Responses to the Leeds Monument
References
Chapter 27: The Struggle Continues Down South: Dismantling of Colonial Monuments and Symbols of Colonialism and White Supremacy
Introduction
Data from the Cases
South Africa
Malawi
Botswana
Zimbabwe
An Explanation of Heightened Activism, Outcomes, and Cases
The Assertion and Ideological Affirmation of African Identity and the Effort to Reclaim African Indigeneity
The Unfinished Politics of Self-Determination and Building New Symbols of Unity
The Discourse of Healing from the Disease of Racism, Ethnocentrism, and the Lingering Trauma of Settler Colonialism and Imperialism
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Chapter 28: Standing Strong: The Renaming of Toronto Metropolitan University
Introduction
Process, Principles, and Project Design
History and Legacy
Community Engagement
Learning and Unlearning
Making Recommendations
Report
Renaming
Moving Forward, Guided by Our Values and Principles
References
Chapter 29: The ‘Crowther Reinterpreted’ Project
Introduction
How Long Has There Been Protest Against the Crowther Statue, and Who Has Been Involved in the Push to Address It?
How Did You Arrive at the Decision to Conduct an Interpretation Project?
How Did You Determine Who You Should Consult With, and How?
How Did You Choose the Artists and Their Installations?
Tell Us About the First Work—Truth Telling by palawa Visual Artist Allan Mansell—Which Was on Display from April to June 2021 (see Image 29.1)
The Second Work—The Lanney Pillar—Was a Collaboration by Filmmaker Roger Scholes and Trawulwuy Writer and Curator Greg Lehman, and Was on display from June to August 2021 (see Image 29.2)
The Third Work—BREATHING SPACE by trawlwoolway Artist Julie Gough—Was on Display from September to October 2021 (see Image 29.3)
The Final Work—Something Missing by palawa Artist Jillian Mundy—Was on Display from Mid-November 2021 to Mid-January 2022 (see Image 29.4)
How Did You Go About Consulting with Members of the Public?
For Those Who Are Against the Crowther Statue Being Kept on Display in Franklin Square, What Were They Wanting Done About It?
For Those Who Want to Keep the Crowther Statue on Display in Franklin Square, What Were Their Arguments for Leaving It Alone?
How Did You Decide What the Proposed Permanent Outcome Should Be for the Crowther Statue?
What Was the Proposed Permanent Outcome for the Crowther Statue?
Was the Proposal Accepted?
What Have Been the Strengths of the Crowther Reinterpreted Project?
What Have Been the Challenges of the Crowther Reinterpreted Project?
Is There Anything You Wish You Had Done Differently?
What Are the Lessons Learnt, that You would Want to Pass On to Another Community?
References
Chapter 30: You Can Handle the Truth: Aboriginal Peoples, Colonial Commemorations and the Unfinished Business of Truth-Telling
Introduction
‘You can’t erase/rewrite history’
‘Just get over it and move on’
‘You don’t get to decide—it’s owned by the people’
‘You can’t judge someone by today’s standards’
‘You’re wrong—they didn’t even do those bad things’
‘But Aboriginal people did bad things too’
‘You’re just being divisive—haven’t you got more important things to worry about?’
‘But even Aboriginal people don’t all agree it should be removed’
‘We need to keep the statue so people can learn from it’
‘Removing the statue won’t change anything’
References
Index